


Textiles of the Underground: Recycling Garbage Clothes

by ArgentDandelion



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Industries of the Underground, Nonfiction, Textiles - Freeform, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 13:02:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19946605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentDandelion/pseuds/ArgentDandelion
Summary: Covers how the monsters of the Underground, with their limited resources, might exploit discarded textiles that are surely in abundance in the dump.





	Textiles of the Underground: Recycling Garbage Clothes

  


A massive amount of clothes are sent to landfills. According to the European Commission, the European Union produces textile waste estimated at 16 million tons per year, with[ much of that waste](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffashion%2F2017%2Fjul%2F29%2Ffashion-must-fight-scourge-dumped-clothing-landfill&t=MWQ4YTI1MTUxMzFjMTYwMDNmMGMzODJjMWRiZWU5ZjI2ZWU2MmUzZiwyY0VuMWVMSg%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F179838685963%2Ftextiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage&m=1) thrown into landfills.

How would all that textile waste affect monster society?

Assuming 20XX is 2015, judging by the DVD in the dump, the dump must have been around for a minimum of eighteen years.[1](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/179838685963/textiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage#fn:1) (Though likely much longer.) While obviously monsters have only one landfill to access, they likely have plenty of material to go through, and many years to figure out how to use it.

Despite the fact monsters are officially at war with humanity, it’s likely many monsters have no problem using human-derived objects.[2](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/179838685963/textiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage#fn:2)  
While monsters might be able to thoroughly clean and/or repair human clothes from the dump, on a large scale[3](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/179838685963/textiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage#fn:3) it makes more sense to instead recycle the materials to make new clothes.

While cotton and polyester (the most common materials) can indeed be recycled into new clothes, there are some technical difficulties in doing so.  
For one thing, the cotton-recycling method used means recycled cotton is generally weaker and harder to spin than new cotton. Furthermore, sometimes processes that give a pretty good recycled-cotton product only work with pure cotton, and not common cotton-polyester blends.

There are workarounds, though: the quality of recycled cotton yarn can be improved by adding in some new material. Therefore, monsters might strengthen cotton blends from recycled clothes using cellulose-based synthetic fibers (e.g., rayon) from Snowdin’s pine trees, _[Typha](http://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/173937823896/crops-of-the-underground-known-types-of-plants)_ fibers (which can be used as an alternative to cotton and linen in clothes), or even monster wool (e.g., Toriel’s fur) and theoretical[4](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/179838685963/textiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage#fn:4) duck-feather fabric ([if they raise](http://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/178459674831/semi-supported-livestock-of-the-underground-ducks) ducks).

Monsters are likely very good at textile recycling out of necessity.[5](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/179838685963/textiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage#fn:5) Even if they had access to cotton, flax (for linen), or sheep (for wool), the Underground’s limited space and natural resources (e.g., soil fertility, plant life) would make raising those plants and livestock impractical.  
Furthermore, living in a relatively small, enclosed cave system means monsters trying to escape pollution from conventional clothes manufacturing (dyeing, tanning, petroleum refining) couldn’t move very far.[6](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/179838685963/textiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage#fn:6)

* * *

  1. The first anime released onto DVD was in [1997](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.animenewsnetwork.com%2Fanswerman%2F2016-08-22%2F.105632&t=NDE2YTg0YzU2NzRlN2E5MGFkYjAzNzZlMGQ1MDgxYWUyZWFiNzEyZSwyY0VuMWVMSg%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F179838685963%2Ftextiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage&m=1). [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/179838685963/textiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage#fnref:1)

  2. From Undyne in the [Papyrus calls](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fpcy.ulyssis.be%2Fundertale%2Fcalls&t=YWM1MGFhNzVlNGQxMGZlYmNhZjY5N2Q4MjI0MTYwZWNhZWRmYTU3MCwyY0VuMWVMSg%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F179838685963%2Ftextiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage&m=1): “The garbage dump!! So many great things come from there!! The only reason we have modern technology… Is ‘cause of all the human junk that flows from the surface!” Since things like TVs, refrigerators and computers are used even by monsters that are not known garbage enthusiasts, Undyne’s statement is likely true. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/179838685963/textiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage#fnref:2)

  3. Literally, a large scale: monsters whose body size or shape are drastically different from that of humans will have trouble finding suitable human-made clothes. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/179838685963/textiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage#fnref:3)

  4. Theoretical, because there’s not actually information on duck-feather fabric, just [chicken-feather fabric](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedaily.com%2Freleases%2F2009%2F01%2F090112094607.htm&t=ZDNhODdmNmE5ZTY1NzFhNDAwZWJlODIxMzYxMWU2OGRmZTcyNjg0YSwyY0VuMWVMSg%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F179838685963%2Ftextiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage&m=1). It could probably be made, though. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/179838685963/textiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage#fnref:4)

  5. To excuse the slight clothes-making pun, there’s a slight snag in this: if textiles and garbage in general is so important, why haven’t monsters blocked off the abyss yet? Is it governmental incompetence or gridlock? [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/179838685963/textiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage#fnref:5)

  6. While recycling of fabric may also involve dangerous things like heavy metals, there are methods that aren’t dangerous. Monsters probably use those. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/179838685963/textiles-of-the-underground-recycling-garbage#fnref:6)





End file.
